Posted on 08/12/2007 10:17:28 PM PDT by mykdsmom
TECATE, MEXICO - Mexicans are increasingly giving up on the American dream and staying home, and the federal crackdown on illegal immigrants announced Friday is likely to discourage even potential migrants from taking the risks.
U.S. border agents detained 55,545 illegal migrants jumping over border walls, walking through the desert and swimming across the Rio Grande between October and June. That is down 38 percent for the entire border compared with the same period a year before.
U.S. and Mexican officials say increased border security, including 6,000 National Guard soldiers, remote surveillance technology and drone planes, have thwarted smugglers who had succeeded for years at beating the system.
Migrants also say they feel Americans are increasingly hostile toward immigrants.
"It's the discrimination," said George Guevara, 28, who was deported to Tijuana last month after living in the United States for 18 years. "It's making people step back. It's just too much of a risk."
Guevara, who speaks perfect English and has only distant memories of Mexico, was living at a Tijuana migrant shelter filled with deportees, many of whom are Mexican-born but find themselves in a country that is foreign to them.
"I barely remember living here," Guevara said. "But I see this as an opportunity. I'm going to go back to Guadalajara to see my family and forget what happened."
While some migrants try to set up new lives, others are caught between two worlds. Salvador Perez has a pregnant wife and three small children in Bakersfield, Calif., where he worked on a pistachio ranch before he was deported. He has tried to cross the rocky, snake-infested mountains near Tecate three times this summer to get back to them but has failed each time.
"I want to try again, but I'm scared something will happen," Perez said.
The biggest drop in Border Patrol detentions -- a 68 percent decrease -- was in the remote, heat-seared desert surrounding Yuma, Ariz., once popular with smugglers. Border Patrol spokesman Jeremy Chappell credits the additional troops and tougher security.
"Where an alien before was able to sneak across, now he has the National Guard watching him," Chappell said.
The only area that has seen an increase -- 1.5 percent -- is the San Diego sector, which runs along the California border and includes the harsh, roadless desert surrounding Tecate. The Border Patrol has responded with helicopters and increased intelligence from detained migrants. The region is difficult to patrol, making it one of the few places migrants think they can still get through.
New measures
Deportations also are up for illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for years. Some are caught for minor infractions such as a burned-out headlight. Others are rounded up in workplace raids that the Bush administration has vowed to intensify.
The measures announced Friday will force employers to fire workers who cannot prove their Social Security numbers are legitimate.
U.S. employers are already complaining, especially those in agriculture, where most workers are thought to be working with false documents. On a recent visit to Mexico, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said some crops are already rotting in the fields for lack of workers.
North Carolina farmers are also experiencing problems.
The N.C. Growers Association brings about 7,000 legal migrant workers annually to the state through a federal program. It is harder than ever to do so, said Stan Eury, executive director.
"The border intervention has definitely affected the supply of farm labor" in North Carolina and nationwide, he said. "It's been getting progressively worse. In the past three years, it's really become more pronounced."
Many employers join President Bush in blaming Congress for stalling an accord that would allow more people to work legally.
"Pretty shortly, people are going to be knocking on people's doors saying 'Man, we're running out of workers,' " Bush said.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon also lashed out Thursday. "The U.S. Congress, which today turns its back on reality, knows full well that the American economy could not move forward without the labor of Mexicans," he said.
Fewer Mexicans are sending home cash remittances -- Mexico's biggest source of foreign income after oil -- leaving many Mexican relatives with no other resources, the Inter-American Development Bank reported Wednesday.
Some still try
Despite all this, some migrants still try to beat the odds.
Isaac Mendiola, 41, mapped out how he would cross near Tecate.
"We start walking about 7 p.m., hit the Golden Casino on Highway 8 by 4 a.m.," Mendiola explained. "Then we call this Indian guy from the reservation and pay him $200 to take us to Oceanside, Calif. An American lady gets us past the checkpoint for another $200."
Still, even Mendiola wants to work in construction for only two more years, then return to Mexico to run a convenience store his family has opened with the money earned up north.
"Crossing is getting a lot harder now," he said. "You gotta stop sometime. This year and next, and boom, I'm done."
Mother Nature is new BP agent......Even Illegals know when it too hot too cross the desert southwest afoot.
Hotter than a snakes butt in a wagon rut down there right now !
I’m gonna be watchin the replies on this one... ;)
Just wait till a nuke goes off in a major American city....better to keep those borders open for the “Reverse Flow” of illegals back home....remember what happened in the week after 9/11?....It was “reverse flow”.....
A little progress is a nice thing. Baby steps...
Don't let the cactus bush it you on the *** on the way out.
(speaking of course here to Guevara).
Ain’t it something !
We won’t allow them to work here ... yet we give them all of the social services they can get their hands on.
Story mentions a fellow from a pistachio nut farm that got deported and, if I understand right, left his family here.
How in the heck is his family getting by unless 1 - they are working or 2 - they are collecting “benefits”
That just baffles me.
How did we end up with this crazy, screwed up beauracratic nightmare of Government Services ?
The American born "citizen" children are entitled to benefits. Undoubtedly, the mother, as their guardian, is collecting the benefits to continue living here.
This is the first time in the history of our country where two political parties have conspired by not enforcing the laws currently on the books in order to pass new laws that would benefit each of them at the detriment of the American citizens. In doing so they have violated the oath to protect and defend the United States.
I believe both political parties have contrived circumstances for their benefit and have committed treason in the process. Maybe baning both from existence would provide a lesson of what NOT to do in the future!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Is’nt it amazing how those old fashioned rules work!
Its bad enough here in Oklahoma where we get the overflow from Texas. I don’t know how folks stand it in California.
You know, I can’t even drink a Mexican beer now? And I’m hesitant about even a Margarita! None of them taste as good as they used to and it certainly never crosses my mind to travel to Mexico anymore (and we used to go nearly every year).
Humbug! They’re pulled over for minor infractions, have their ID checked, and are discovered to have fugitive warrants out for them.
The whole ‘burned-out headlight’ thing is a meme peddled by the pro-illegal lobby.
I'm assuming those are employers who haven't noticed that the latest 'enforcement' proposals include a program to make it easier to get a 'guest worker' permit.
Greedy traitors, they need to be caught and prosecuted.
Mr Guevara, have you ever read anything about how Mexico, Mexicans, the Mexican Army treats illegal aliens in MEXICO? Ask some Guatemalans or Salvadorans about this.
“The border intervention has definitely affected the supply of farm labor” in North Carolina and nationwide, he said. “It’s been getting progressively worse. In the past three years, it’s really become more pronounced.”
“The only area that has seen an increase — 1.5 percent — is the San Diego sector, which runs along the California border and includes the harsh, roadless desert surrounding Tecate. The Border Patrol has responded with helicopters and increased intelligence from detained migrants. The region is difficult to patrol, making it one of the few places migrants think they can still get through.”
Mine it.
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